 ETH Competence Center for Materials and Processes (MaP)| Acronym | MaP | | Homepage | http://www.map.ethz.ch/ | | Country | Switzerland | | ZIP, City | 8093 Zürich | | Address | Leopold-Ruzicka-Weg 4 | | Phone | +41 44 633 37 53 | | Type | Academy | | Parent organization | ETH Zurich | | Current organization | ETH Competence Center for Materials and Processes (MaP) | | Members | |
Open OpportunitiesNatural calcium carbonate is produced through a complex process determined by chemical, biological, physical, and anthropological factors whereas synthetic calcium carbonate is obtained by easy chemical protocols. Although the synthetic approach seems attractive due to the short synthesis time and control over the mineral microstructure, the reactants and products of this reaction can be toxic and thus being an unsustainable process. On the other hand, a bioinspired method based on mineralization induced by soil bacteria emerges as a sustainable alternative to synthesize calcium carbonate in a controlled manner. Biomineralization is a natural process that harnesses the biological and biochemical mechanisms of microorganisms to induce the precipitation of minerals intra or extracellularly. The polymorphs of bacterial-induced calcium carbonate are dictated by the chemical composition of the medium used for the culture of mineralizing bacteria as previously described. Despite biomineralization is already being exploited in the development of applications such as self-healing concrete, bio bricks, bio cement, among others, it remains still challenging to predict the resulting polymorph and control over the structural properties of the calcium carbonate based on the biological feature of the system. - Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Biotechnology, Chemistry, Engineering and Technology, Environmental Sciences, Medical and Health Sciences, Microbiology, Soil and Water Sciences
- Bachelor Thesis, ETH Zurich (ETHZ), Master Thesis, Semester Project
| Natural calcium carbonate is produced through a complex process determined by chemical, biological, physical, and anthropological factors whereas synthetic calcium carbonate is obtained by easy chemical protocols. Although the synthetic approach seems attractive due to the short synthesis time and control over the mineral microstructure, the reactants and products of this reaction can be toxic and thus being an unsustainable process. On the other hand, a bioinspired method based on mineralization induced by soil bacteria emerges as a sustainable alternative to synthesize calcium carbonate in a controlled manner. Biomineralization is a natural process that harnesses the biological and biochemical mechanisms of microorganisms to induce the precipitation of minerals intra or extracellularly. The polymorphs of bacterial-induced calcium carbonate are dictated by the chemical composition of the medium used for the culture of mineralizing bacteria as previously described. Despite biomineralization is already being exploited in the development of applications such as self-healing concrete, bio-bricks, bio cement, among others, it remains still challenging to predict the resulting polymorph and control over the structural properties of the calcium carbonate based on the biological feature of the system. - Biology, Engineering and Technology
- Internship, Master Thesis, Semester Project
| Microbes such as bacteria and fungi produce a broad range of materials including polymers, biominerals, nanoparticles, antibiotics, and therapeutic proteins and peptides. Recent advances in synthetic symbiotic consortia, where more than one microbe are co-cultured, further broadened the range of microbial materials. This project aims to generate 3D functional materials by taking advantage of bioprinting and various microbes. In particular, the goal is to produce materials with ultra-high mechanical strength and toughness. Students with background knowledge in material engineering, chemistry and/or (micro)biology are highly encouraged to join this exciting project! - Biology, Chemistry, Engineering and Technology, Medical and Health Sciences
- Bachelor Thesis, Internship, Master Thesis, Semester Project
| The emergence of multidrug-resistant microorganisms has become a major threat to public health. In this project, we aim to understand interactions between nanoparticles and bacterial cells/biofilm and ultimately develop high-efficacy nanodrugs against bacteria/biofilm with multi-drug resistance. Students with background knowledge in material engineering, chemistry and/or (micro)biology are highly encouraged to join this exciting project! - Biology, Chemistry, Engineering and Technology, Medical and Health Sciences
- Bachelor Thesis, Internship, Master Thesis, Semester Project
| Combine two exploding fields in computer science: machine learning and agent-based modelling.
Based on preclinical and in vitro studies of cell behaviour and cytokine reaction-diffusion and mechanical tests we have generated an in-house biofidelic agent-based model of the human skeleton and its response to diseases and their treatments. This model reproduces the effects of several widely used osteoporosis treatments on key parameters used to quantify fracture risk. This rule-based approach involves studying bone mechanobiology at the cell scale and extrapolating this to millions of cells at the tissue scale to understand the pharmacokinetics of treatments and identify possible new therapies and approaches to patient-specific treatment.
An alternative approach to in silico prediction of response to treatment is a supervised learning approach where we simply input baseline and follow-up bone scans to a CNN with twelve layers constructed using keras. We then attempt to dive into the black box and quantify what characteristics of the input govern the response of our model. The issue is the clinical data is not big enough to do this well so we use the agent-based model as input to the ML approach to construct a proxy model! This also helps us understand, validate and quantify the uncertainty in the agent-based model. To decide which runs of the agent-based model to use as input to the ML approach to construct the proxy model we use polynomial chaos expansion. - Animal Physiology-Cell, Artificial Intelligence and Signal and Image Processing, Cell Development (incl. Cell Division and Apoptosis), Cellular Interactions (incl. Adhesion, Matrix, Cell Wall), Computation Theory and Mathematics, Modeling and Simulation, Protein Targeting and Signal Transduction
- Bachelor Thesis, Master Thesis, Semester Project
| The goal of this project is to experimentally study the shock waves produced by laser-induced optical breakdown. The student will map the three dimensional pressure field around the location of plasma formation and quantify the isotropy of shock wave propagation. Experiments will be conducted using a hydrophone and robotic arm. - Mechanical Engineering
- Semester Project
| We are interested in developing a method to synthesise smooth microparticles, decorated with fluorescent markers for 3D rotational tracking to answer open questions in colloid science. - Polymers
- Master Thesis, Semester Project
| Delayed bone healing or failed non-unions account for 5 – 10% of all bone fractures and present a challenging problem in regenerative medicine. The impact of delayed unions or non-unions can be devastating with prolonged rehabilitation, decreased quality of life and significant health care costs. Our lab has conducted fracture healing studies in young and prematurely-aged mouse models with different defect sizes. The aim of this project is to analyse data from mice which exhibit delayed unions and non-unions. - Biomaterials, Biomechanical Engineering
- Bachelor Thesis, Internship, Master Thesis, Semester Project
| Polymer networks are made by cross-linking polymer chains at their ends by means of a chemical reaction. While the properties of used reactions are usually very well characterized for small molecules, little is known about how the presence of a polymer chain and its length affect this reaction. In this project, we aim to study this, mostly experimentally, but also including a theoretical approach. We propose to start with boronic ester chemistry, which has been already characterized in literature and in our lab. the reactants will be functionalized on linear PEG chains. We plan on studying both the thermodynamic and kinetic parameters. - Characterisation of Macromolecules, Physical Chemistry of Macromolecules, Thermodynamics and Statistical Physics
- Bachelor Thesis, Master Thesis, Semester Project
| In this project, we first perform the rotation manipulation of zebrafish using an acoustically actuated capillary. Then, we would like to realize the precise 3D reconstruction of the in vivo organs of live zebrafish larvae using CV and AI algorithms. We will fabricate a microchannel chip, which can develop a single polarized vortex. By adjusting the acoustic excitation parameters, we will change the rotational speed and direction. Finally, we will program our only 3D reconstruction algorithms and software. - Acoustics and Acoustical Devices; Waves, Microbiology, Programming Languages, Robotics and Mechatronics
- Bachelor Thesis, Master Thesis, Semester Project
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